The poke craze has hit Vancouver finally and I went to the best of the poke shops in the city, The Poke Guy is serving a big bunch of Aloha! The Poke Guy was opened by Husband and Wife duo Jak and Angela, and they opened their doors out of pure love of the poke! Angela has family in Hawaii, so the couple makes many trips to visit family and poke was on the menu from the time they got off the airplane to when they boarded to come back home. It was only natural for the couple to open a poke shop in Vancouver but they wanted to keep things completely authentic, so ingredients and staff are and have been sourced right from the Islands. Since the fish is the most important ingredient used in poke Angela and Jak decided locally was best, so they sourced out an excellent supplier who happened to be Ocean Wise certified so in turn The Poke Guy is Canada’s only certified Ocean Wise poke shop at the moment.

Everything is made in small batches throughout the day which allows enough marination time for the various types of fish and seafood. When you order you choose your size from either a Little Guy (2 scoops of poke and max 5 sides) or Big Guy (3 scoops of poke with unlimited sides), pick your base from either white or brown rice, salad greens or mac salad, and then your sides. Personally, I’m a fan of every type of poke they have on the menu and have the pleasure of sampling everything when I shot some pictures for Angela and Jak. The jewel-like ahi tuna is firm, and the marinade adds a slight sweetness to the fish which is a great contrast to the umami-infused buttery albacore tuna poke. Besides tuna, salmon is a prominent feature on the menu as well coming in poke form, lomilomi which is marinated in sesame oil and a spicy variety. One a rotating basis The Poke Guy has spicy octopus which has a nice hit of Korean gochujang, a shrimp poke and a scallop poke.

With our wet West Coast Winters here they are adding some comfort food to the menu, and when I was in shooting some pictures for the restaurant I got to try two new items. First up is a KILLER Ocean Wise Creamy Seafood Chowder that is Jak’s secret recipe, it was loaded with tuna and salmon and had a good creaminess to it without being too rich. The second item I tried is Hawaii’s version of pulled pork, Kahlua Pork! So lets get this out of the way now, the word khula in this dish has nothing to do with the booze; from Wikipedia: The word kālua, which literally means “to cook in an underground oven”, may also be used to describe the food prepared in this manner, such as kālua pig or kālua turkey. It’s tender just like pulled pork, but flavor wise it’s saltier, and the flavor of the pork comes through more as it doesn’t come with sauce.

With all the poke places in town I’m spending my money at The Poke Guy hands down, the Ocean Wise designation, quality of the fish and authentic flavors make it the natural choice if you wanna do it right. This is one of the few posts where I can say order ANYTHING from the menu, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, just remember not to go overboard with the toppings like I did on my first visit! You can find out more information about the menu and restaurant here.

For years the little house down on Alberni Street around the corner from all the ramen shops was home to La Gavroche which served up classic French food, but all good things must come to an end, and they closed their doors a couple of years ago. The crew that owns Espania on Denman Street took over the old space and turned it into an authentic British Pub appropriately named The Fat Badger. Since it’s no fun to drink alone I asked Dennis The Foodie if he would like to join me after work on a Friday for some Happy Hour beers and bites, he was more than glad to join me and kill the bar snacks menu.

The Fat Badger offers PROPER 20 ounce Imperial pints of beer; that’s right folks, hipster joints that serve beer in tin hobo cups or anything else are ripping you off! During Happy Hour pints of draft beer are $5 (pictured above is Dennis’s beer), I went with a pint of Phillips Pilsner which was great to cut the richness of all the fried food we were about to devour.

The first dish to hit the table were Bubble and Squeak Croquettes served with malt vinegar aioli. Neither Dennis nor I had ever had bubble and squeak before so we didn’t know what to expect from these. Bubble and Squeak is a dish made from the veggies left at the bottom the roasting pan where the Sunday roast was cooked and bound with mashed potato; it varies from family to family, and all depends on what you had in the house. The croquettes were indeed crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but the potato based filling was subtle flavorwise. The real star of the plate was the malt vinegar aioli, and it’s distinct tangy punch.

One of the must order items from the Bar Snacks menu is the Onion Rings. The Fat Badger uses red onion in their rings, and they cut them nice and thick then coat them in a delicious breading. I’ll just put it like this; these onion rings were fucking amazing, the batter was thin enough but held onto the perfectly cooked onion resulting in bites without the onion coming out. Hands down these were some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had. I think they were served with a mustard aioli, but I take them straight up and with some of their homemade curry ketchup.

Next up were some classic British Chips served with Curry Sauce. If it’s thick and nubby it’s a chip and if it looks like you could use it to lace your shoe with you’ve got fry on your hands; these were chips! These were cooked up just right leaving a fluffy inside surrounded by a crisp outer that did a great job grabbing that curry sauce which tingled my taste buds. Soaked in malt vinegar, slathered with gravy or dipped in ketchup or aioli the Fat Badger nailed the chip game.

Besides beer, a Britsh Pub staple is the Scotch Egg and very few places in Vancouver do them. The Fat Badger’s Scotch Egg is one of those destination dishes and reason alone to make a visit. The egg was cooked just enough to leave the yolk runny which I loved, and the amount of sausage used to coat the outside was balanced perfectly with the egg and it was still moist. Instead of the traditional “brown sauce” our eggs were served atop a dollop of homemade curry ketchup that complimented the sausage wonderfully. We split one Scotch egg but before finishing my portion I ordered another one just for myself, they were that delicious.

With the bar snacks menu under my belt, I’m ready to start tackling the rest of the menu and am already thinking of my next meal at The Fat Badger; they use those killer chips in a house poutine that changes regularly and it’s next on my hit list. If you’re looking for an authentic British Pub experience with food to match The Fat Badger should be on your radar.

The last Chinese Bites Dim Sum Tour took us to Western Lake Seafood Restaurant over on Victoria Drive by 33rd. This was my first time here but it’s been on my list since reading Sherman’s blog. The place is packed so you’re unlikely to get a table just by walking in and even with your reservation you’re probably going to still have a wait. Western Lake is known for having generous servings of well made dim sum and it’s consistent. One thing I will say is that the restaurant is small inside so seating is tight and there aren’t too many huge tables so keep that in mind. We had a group of seven but ended up ordering WAY too many dishes numbering around 35, I didn’t sample them all but below is what I did devour. While the room was full, the service was still quick around the dining room, and the food was getting out quickly from the kitchen quickly.

Let’s start off with the Deep Fried Squid with Chili Salt. How can you go wrong with a heaping pile of freshly fried squid sprinkled with chili salt! The pieces were each coated in a light, crispy batter that wasn’t greasy yet really crispy and airy. The squid itself was still tender but still a bit toothsome and the chili salt was studded pieces of dried chili and fresh scallions which worked perfectly with the squid. This was the best deep fried squid I’ve ever had and is something I would come back for again and recommend to anyone.

Continuing with the chili salt dusted items, the Deep Fried Tofu with Chili Salt hit the table. Again this was piled high on the plate and sprinkled with the same mixture as the squid. Again they did a great job with this from both the preparation aspect and in the taste department. The pieces of tofu were cut on the larger side for my liking, but each piece was wonderfully crispy all the way around, and the inside was fluffy. The star in the flavor department was the chili salt, but the tofu was also great with some XO sauce added.

Next is the Pan Fried Radish Cake tossed in Spicy XO Sauce. I’m still trying to find my love for this dish; the radish cake tends to be on the wet side, but that being said this one wasn’t too bad. The pieces of radish cake could have been crispier, but they had enough texture outside to grab the XO sauce nicely.

Something new for me at dim sum was the Clams in Spicy Chinese Wine Broth, and honestly, I’m not a huge clam fan but when I caught the aroma of the spicy sauce I knew I had to give them a try. The clams weren’t overcooked so they were still nice and juicy. The Chinese cooking wine was just noticeable but the star of the broth was the spicy chili hit.

Next up is the Chef’s Specialty Shredded Chicken. This was a cold salad consisting of shredded chicken, jellyfish, pickled greens and vegetables, crispy wonton strips all tied together with a sesame dressing. The salad was all about the varying levels of crunch texture wise more so than about the flavor of the chicken and jellyfish which actually worked for me with the delicious sesame dressing.

Spareribs make an appearance at dim sum and Western Lake’s version has been my favorite so far with their Rice Flour Rolls in Hotpot with Spareribs. The meaty spareribs were smothered in a rich black bean sauce with the rice rolls on the bottom to soak up all the flavors. I ended up snagging some great pieces of sparerib that had a perfect amount of meat on them compared to other times I’ve had this dish.

For the soup course of our dim sum feast, we had the Minced Pork and Oysters with Rice in Soup. The soups I’ve had at Chinese Bites dinners have usually been on the milder side flavor wise with the exception of hot and sour soup, this soup was the opposite packing a briny punch from the little oysters. After tasting this initially we didn’t eat anymore for the rest of the meal, by the time we were finished the rice soaked up all the broth so if you order this make sure to eat it quickly.

Next up is the Pan Fried Eggplant with Shrimp Paste that is a familiar dim sum favorite. The preparation at Western Lake was top notch featuring a great delicate shrimp mousse that still held together nicely and a generous amount of delicious black bean sauce.

The Steamed Beef Meatballs with Bean Sheets made were a perfect addition to the table with all the seafood dishes we ordered. Western Lake serves up some sizable meatballs without argument, but they’re also tender and seasoned with just enough scallion and Worcestershire sauce.

One of my favorites dishes of the day were the Panfried Chive and Shrimp Dumplings. These babies were big and full of plump shrimp that again was cooked just right leaving a nice snap and sweetness with just enough chives to accent their flavor. They could have been browned more but I was alright with what I ate.

The Steamed Rice Flour Rolls with Chinese Donut were textbook perfect with a donut that wasn’t too chewy and rice roll that melted in my mouth.

As if we hadn’t had enough shrimp yet the Steamed Prawn and Pea Tip Dumplings hit the table. The wrapper on these was a bit thicker than I like but these were still great dumplings. The star of the filling flavor wise was the pea tips which accented the sweetness in the shrimp.

As with the rest of the dim sum staples the Haw Gow and Siu Mai were both on point at Western Lake. Both of the dumplings were large size wise resulting in 2-3 bites each. The fillings for the haw gow was seasoned with a good amount of sesame oil and the shrimp were of course, delish. The siu mai had a good ratio of shrimp to pork with just enough umami flavor from the shitake mushroom. I will say that the larger size of these dumplings they were definitely more filling and them with an another couple dishes would be more than enough to classify this as a meal worthy of fat pants.

The desserts we sampled were a bit hit and miss for me. We got the DeepFried Yam Balls, Goji Berry in Lychee Jelly, and Green Tea and Coconut Jelly. In all my Chinese Bites dinners I’ve only encountered a handful of desserts that have worked for me so given I have never tried any of these items before I went in really open minded. The yam balls were really heavy when I picked one up and the sauce was thoroughly soaked up by them by the time we got to them overall it was too dense and gummy for me. The goji berry lychee jelly was more of a winner for me, the lychee jelly was fragrant and the goji berry added more texture rather than flavor to this nor so sweet dessert. My favorite was the green tea and coconut jelly, the coconut was the dominant flavor with the green tea being on the subtle side with just the right amount of sweetness.

As if it wasn’t obvious, I really enjoyed myself at Western Lake Seafood and would come back in a heartbeat. I think their dim sum was absolutely delicious and totally would send ANYONE here who is looking for a solid dim sum experience. All the dishes were prepared well, the proteins all fresh and consistently cooked all served up in a generous portion size that won’t break the bank. You can get your dim sum on seven day’s a week at Western Lake but as I said reservations are recommended rather than just showing up even during the week.

**Disclosure, as a Chinese Bites reviewer my food was paid for by Chinese Bites, my opinions and experience are completely my own and were not influenced by the restaurant or ChineseBites.com**

The food court has been a place where you have your usual suspects when you think of chains offering economical fare to appease the masses but things are starting to change. The Chachi’s Sandwich Company is based out of Alberta, and they’ve opened their first franchise store in Burnaby’s Metropolis Shopping Center. Chachi’s offers gourmet hot and cold sandwiches, soups, salads, and sides that are a step up from standard food court offerings like the 12″ sandwich guy’s for a few more bucks. I was invited by Sherman to a group media tasting he set up with the owner, so I partnered up with a couple other bloggers and friends to put a dent in the Chachi’s menu. The first thing I noticed when walking up to Chachi’s was the branding and decor of the restaurant; it totally reminded me of Meat & Bread with the white tile work and props.

First of the salads up is the Kale Salad with turkey added, dill ranch dressing, bacon, and jalapeno jack cheese. If you like kale salads, then you’d probably like this one, the flavor and texture of the kale was the star of the salad with the dressing playing a side role to the bacon and cheese.

Next up was the Asiago Caesar with chicken added, bacon, and creamy Asiago dressing. This was my favorite salad out of the bunch. The crisp lettuce and tangy dressing combined with the salty bacon and cheese made for enjoyable eating.

Lastly the Arugula Salad with sundried tomatoes, artichokes, red onions, goat cheese, balsamic reduction, and capicola. This would have been great as a pasta salad or dish with the bold flavors rather than a salad as things were tart.

When I saw they had Mac and Cheese on the menu, I knew we had to order it. At Chachi’s you can get it with or without capicola so we got both. I’ve eaten a fair amount of mac and cheese in my time on this planet, and this ranked up there with some of the BEST I’ve ever had. The pasta wasn’t mushy, so the macaroni had some body to it to grab that creamy, cheesy sauce. The sauce itself was thickened just enough without being starchy, so the flavor of the cheese was allowed to shine. If you’re looking to spice things up adding capicola is an excellent option, but I preferred it without.

Another side item that I enjoyed from Chachi’s is the Homemade Chips they have available. The chips are lightly salted, crispy, and not super greasy and come in a variety of flavors including plain, jalapeno cheddar, and dill pickle which were my personal favorite.

The first of the sandwiches up is Chachi’s version of the Philly Cheesesteak, the Hot Philly Sandwich. I wouldn’t think of this sandwich as a cheesesteak, but more of a hot beef and peppers sandwich with cheese. The meat was sliced just right adding texture to the sandwich, but it was still tender and well seasoned. The peppers and cheese did a great job to round out and compliment the flavor of the meat. The bread for all the sandwiches was on point; it was still soft but held together beautifully.

One of the most famous sandwiches at Chachi’s is the Pork n’ Mac. I thought I would love this, but I found the pulled pork sauce to be on the sweet side, and the sandwich lacked a textural crunch element. On a positive note, the pulled pork texture was good, and the mac and cheese is a winner for me obviously.

Next up is the Spicy Italian Sandwich with Calabrese Salami, Dry-Cured Capicollo, Jalapeno Jack Cheese, Garlic Aioli, Red Pepper Spread, Red Onion, Lettuce, and Tomato. Flavor wise this had a lot going on with the salami, capicola, and red pepper spread being the dominate flavors.

To break up all the cured and red meat we got The Cali with Smoked Turkey Breast, Double Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, House Made Guacamole, Spicy Mayo, Romane, and Tomatoes was an enjoyable sandwich and an excellent choice if you are not looking to eat red meat. Everything tasted bright and fresh in the sandwich with the bacon adding some guiltiness with the fresh guacamole.

One of the oddball sandwiches for me was the Banh Mi. Instead of the usual toppings, this sandwich was loaded with Braised Beef Brisket, Asian Marinade, Garlic Aioli, Pickled Carrots, Cilantro, and Jalapenos. The meat was saucy and moist which I enjoyed liked but to call this a banh mi sandwich is a bit of a stretch but still a delicious sandwich. The addition of the pickled carrots was needed to add some texture to the moist braised beef, but I would have loved to see some cucumber added for more crunch.

The Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich was something I was hoping to like, but Chachi’s was just alright, The mustard overpowered the Montreal smoked meat which I think would have been different if the meat was sliced thicker.

We decided to get the Meatball Sandwich which was the special of the day. Last time I had a meatball sandwich was at Meat & Bread where I was horrified to find out they smash the meatballs apart when making the sandwich; Chachi’s was not that thank God! The meatballs were sliced in half on the sandwich, and they were topped with just enough sauce not to make things totally messy. The meatballs themselves were well seasoned and tender but still held together nicely, and the sauce had a good tang to it along with a touch of heat.

Lastly on this sandwich fest, we got the Grilled Cheese which included their fig preserves. For me, this was more of a cheese sandwich more than a grilled cheese (there’s something about the buttery toasty outside of the bread that does it for me), but I do think they did put this in a sandwich press. Flavor wise the fig preserves added a level of sweetness to the sandwich that didn’t work for me and overwhelmed the gooey cheese. If you’re looking for a more savory option, substitute the fig preserves for some of the tomato sauce from the meatball sandwich.

Overall I appreciated the sandwich offerings from Chachi’s and I think they are a perfect fit for the Metrotown food court. The different choices sandwich-wise, homemade potato chips as well as that delicious mac and cheese make Chachi’s a place I would recommend to anyone in the mall in the mood for something different from the usual food court fare.

**Disclosure-I was invited by Sherman for this tasting; all food was compliments of Chachi’s. My opinion and experiences are entirely my own.**

Dumplings are one of my favorite things to eat and have been since childhood where perogies were a regular item in our house. Fast forward to being an adult with a love of all things Asian in the dumpling department, from water-boiled, steamed, pan-fried, and heck even filled with soup I’ll eat them all!

The folk’s over at Tourism Richmond have developed a self-guided tour in Central Richmond along the Canada Line appropriately named The Dumpling Trail. With over 800 restaurants in Richmond, it can be a bit intimidating for those not very familiar to completely new to the dining scene in the city. Tourism Richmond had hand picked 15 select restaurants to participate in the Dumpling Trail with choices of dumplings that span Asia from regions in China, Japan, and Korea. Over on the Tourism Richmond has set up an interactive map where you can plan out your Dumpling Trail adventure and get more information about a couple great contests they’re running.

Sherman put the word out that he was looking to hit the dumpling trail so Nora, Diana, and myself joined him to hit an epic 6 different spots starting with dim sum in the morning. You could hit the dumpling trail alone but that is kind of suicide and Tourism Richmond recommends getting a group together, dumpling orders tend to come with 4 pieces so the bigger the group the more places you can hit.

We started bright and early at Empire Seafood Restaurant at 9:30am. Empire is one of the few Cantonese Chinese restaurants that starts dim sum service at 9am and by the time we got there the place was packed with hungry diners. Sherman did the ordering getting all the dim sum favorites to get our day of eating started.

First up is the classic Siu Mai dumplings. These pork and shrimp stuffed beauties were on point for my tastes. The filling had a good balance of shrimp and pork that was seasoned well and not overcooked. Size wise the Siu Mai were on the larger size but I managed them into two sizeable bites.

Next up is the other dim sum classic item, Har Gow. These shrimp filled dumplings are another of my favorites because it’s simplicity showcases the shrimp in the flavor, preparation, and texture department. These like the Siu Mai were sizeable and provided a generous two bites. The dumpling skin for me was on the thick side but the filling made up for that, it was cooked perfectly with the mousse retaining a snappy texture and good sized pieces of cut up shrimp in the mix.

A couple dim sum items I’m still trying to find my love for are the Deep Fried Glutinous Dumplings and Deep Fried Taro Dumplings. Both of these dumplings can be grease bombs if not fried at the right temperature so I’m happy to report Empire did a great job cooking these. The glutinous dumpling had a crispy outside while the inside remained well, glutinous and the saucy pork shitake filling was full of flavor. With the flavorless nature of taro, I would have to say it’s my least favorite filling for dumplings and it can be heavy but these were fluffy inside almost and did a great job of soaking up the soy I dipped my bite into.

Lastly for dumplings at Empire Seafood, we had the Shrimp and Chive Dumplings. These dumplings were my favorite we had at the restaurant, the dumpling wrapper was just right and the dumpling itself was packed with plump pieces of sweet shrimp and flavorful chives.

Next, we headed over to Suhang Restaurant restaurant for some Shanghainese eats. This was a first-time visit for me to Suhang and I was excited to try their XLB’s.

We did order some other items from the menu but the XLB were at the top of our list. Suhang is known for their XLB dumplings and I must say that these were pretty damn good. The dumpling skin held together nicely, the size wasn’t too big or too small, and the balance of filling to soup was spot on.

Another version of XLB’s are the pan-fried variety but I’ve never laid eyes on the bun version so when the pan-fried XLB Buns hit the table I got wide eyed! While I loved the look of these I found the bun soaked up most of the soup inside leaving a large vacant pocket inside with just the pork filling remaining. The outside was indeed crispy on the bottom with a tender bun on top but these just didn’t do it for me.

Time for some Korean dumplings at eats at Samsoonie Noodle and Rice (and ramen). The place was packed when we made our visit around 12:30 and was steadily busy so keep that in mind if you come with a large group. When I got my media sample last month Samsoonie’s Korean Mandu dumplings were part of the delivery, I’m new to Korean dumplings so I was looking forward to this restaurant in particular.

We were all surprised when we got a small bowl of the house special Korean version of Won Ton Soup. The soup was seasoned really well with black pepper being the predominant flavor. The wontons themselves were bite sized and filled with a tasty pork filling.

Being the dumpling pigs that we are we decided to get all three preparations of mandu on the menu. The only difference between the three dumplings is preparation method with the same pork and scallion filling in all. I’ve tried the steamed version in a delivery of dumplings Tourism Richmond sent me a month ago, the steamed variety really showed off the filling and the deep fried ones were alright to try but the pan-fried ones were my favorite by far.

Located in the same strip mall as Samsoonie is Tsim Chai who are known for their wontons so we ordered two variations. Sherman did the ordering and got Siu Gow Soup and Wonton Noodle Soup. The siu gow were filled with shrimp, shrimp mousse, and wood ear fungus while the wontons were traditional pork and shrimp filled. Personally, I liked the size of the siu gow but I found the wood ear fungus to be on the chewy side but the shrimp was on point. The wontons were on point with a generous amount of well-prepared filling but I will say I prefer my wonton soup with no noodles.

Next up we headed over to the Richmond Public Market to Xi’an Food Stall for Chili Oil Wontons and Pan Fried Pot Stickers. After all the meals I’ve eaten in Richmond I had no clue this public market existed, it is a two level space with shops below and a bunch of different food stalls upstairs and plenty of seating. The chili oil wontons were served with no shortage of chili oil and had a good sprinkling of ground up Szechuan peppercorns. These were alright but they didn’t really hold together all that well. The pan fried potstickers had a good pan fry on them but the dumpling wrapper was on the thick side. The thick wrapper was balanced out with a generous amount of pork filling that was juicy and moist.

By now we all were REALLY full but still headed over to Lansdowne Mall’s food court to hit up R and H Chinese Food. This place is a favorite of mine and I always stop in when I visit the mall to give all my money to Broadway Camera so I was going to find room in my full stomach for some of their dumplings. We got the big three items to have at R and H starting with the XLB’s which are all made fresh to order. The dumplings are on the large side and the plastic spoon is dwarfed in comparison to them, I find the soup in them slightly sweet but the meat is really well seasoned to balance things out. My other go to item is the pan fried pork dumplings with chives, they take a few minutes more to prepare but are well worth the wait. The dumplings are nicely sized and stuffed with a good amount of filling and they are very juicy so watch out when you take your first bite! Lastly, the water boiled dumplings were just like they should be with a tender wrapper and more of that pork and chive filling.

After a day of eating our faces off I really have to say I enjoyed eating on the Dumpling Trail, Tourism Richmond has put together a solid list of restaurants that deliver a wide variety of dumplings for your eating pleasure. Tourism Richmond is running a couple contests in connection with the Dumpling Trail so please head on over to their site for full details by clicking here.

**Disclosure-Tourism Richmond provided Sherman with a budget for our dumpling adventure, I’m not being paid for this post and all opinions and experiences are completely my own.**

The area of lower Robson Street known as Ramenville is home to Vancouver’s best noodle shops with ramen lovers coming from around the world to get their noodle slurp on. The concentration of so many noodle shops certainly draws foot traffic but over that last couple years, we’ve seen ramen make it’s way to other parts of the city but Ramenville is still the motherland. With so much competition down here you really have to be on top of your ramen game, fancy digs and just the fact you serve noodles doesn’t mean you’re going to be a success (at best you’ll just catch overflow business that doesn’t want to wait for a table). Enter one of the newest shops on the scene, MEN-no Kura House of Ramen which is owned by the same guy who owns Taishoken in Crosstown. MEN-no Kura opened their doors a couple months ago in what used to be La Casita Tacos on Robson just before Denman Street. The restaurant itself is smaller with some two tops, a communal long table, and some counter top window seating but it is one of the few ramen joints that has a covered, heated patio.

On my first visit which happened to be the opening day I stopped in for a quick bite which included, of course, Chicken Karaage! Served with a dollop of Japanese mayo the pieces of chicken were cut quite large compared to other the neighborhood competition which serves bite-sized pieces. The pieces of chicken were juicy and cooked thoroughly given their size but the breading on the chicken was on the thick side and it was underseasoned.

On my last visit, I got an order of the Gyoza. When I was ordering this from the menu they had an option of getting a combo size order with your ramen clearly stated on the menu (this was during the 30% Grand Opening Week) but I was told they were “out of combo’s for the day” and I would have to order the full sized order and priced dumplings, sorry but how the heck do you run out of combo’s???!!!! I’ll just cut to the chase here, these didn’t hit any of the keys that make for a good gyoza. The dumplings didn’t get enough time in the pan to crisp up the bottom side and the wrappers were flaccid and waterlogged. The filling itself was pureed so finely that there was a complete lack of texture.

The bowl of ramen that caught my eye on my first visit was the Tonkotsu Black Garlic Ramen ($12.45) with two pieces of chashu, green onions, soft boiled egg, fish cake, black garlic oil, and garlic chips. When this was put in front of me I liked what I saw but you can’t base a good ramen just on looks, it’s all about the broth, noodles, and toppings including protein. The broth had a visible oiliness to it with the black garlic oil on top but the broth also packed a ton of richness which would be good on a cold Vancouver day but other than that it was flat flavor wise. The chashu’s fat was rendered nicely leaving the noticeable layer soft and the edge was charred adding some smokiness but the leaner part of the pork was a bit too soft for my tastes. MEN-no Kura uses the same noodles as Taishoken which are brought in and not made in house, not making your own noodles isn’t a deal breaker in my books. Unfortunately, the noodles I had at MEN-no Kura on both visits were overcooked and added an unpleasant amount of starch to both bowls of noodles.

On my last visit, I ordered the Tantanmen ($12.45) with ground chicken, baby bok choy, green onion, soft boiled egg, and hot chili oil in a sesame and spicy pork broth. High hopes were had for this bowl of noodles when I ordered them but in the end, they were a disappointing gluggy mess. With the menu description, I was expecting a spicy bowl of tantanmen but that spice wasn’t present and instead the broth was bland, overly thick, and sesame was the only noticeable flavor. The noodles again were also overcooked adding that unwanted starchiness, combined with the thick broth it left my mouth feeling like it was coated in melted peanut butter. One saving grace was the soft boiled egg, it was prepared just how I like it with a tender egg white and runny yolk.

I’ve posted a photo of the menu for a couple reasons that reference consistency and customer service. When I ordered my tantanmen and it was brought to the table the egg was missing so I called the server back over. Upon informing her about the missing egg I was told that this dish didn’t come with an egg, I let her know the dish was described this way on the menu to which I was told “no” so I motioned to her to grab a menu which she did. The server read the menu over with a puzzled look on her face then put the menu down on the table and made me point to the egg mention in the menu description. An egg was grabbed from the kitchen and honestly this shouldn’t have been such an issue but her insistence that I was wrong and making me point it out on the menu AFTER she read it herself rubbed me the wrong way.

So after a couple visits and having individual issues with every dish I ordered it only reinforces my thoughts on opening a ramen joint in the Lower Robson area especially if you’re going to charge a premium price you better have your ramen game down strong or you won’t last. I’m going to go a little further in my closing and say that this blog post is not only an opinion post but it’s also a factual post, the issues I had with my food have been similar both of the diners on Zomato (whom I don’t know) that reviewed MEN-no Kura. When the owner contacted me via Instagram DM asking me who the Hell I thought I was talking about a new business like that, I just can say that my criticisms are real, deal with your customer service issues and fix your food instead of contacting Intagramers, Bloggers, and more importantly Customers to throw “shade”.

Vancouver’s newest ramen shop have opened their doors in the West End calling Denman Street home. Touhenboku Ramen which hails from Toronto with three shops decided to make the jump out West with a unique style of ramen which hails from the Kyushi Region of Japan. Touhenboku serves up their noodles in a slow simmered chicken stock called Mizutaki which takes 10 or so hours to make to which you add your choice of thin or thick noodles as well as fatty or lean pork. The restaurant has been opened now for a couple weeks offering 50% off bowls of ramen opening weekend which had customers lined up down the street, so I waited till during the week when I snagged 30% off my bowls of noodles so if you were looking for a deal you’ve missed the boat as they are back to regular prices.

On my first visit I ordered the Chicken Karaage but for some reason, it was never punched in the computer, it didn’t make it to the table obviously so I got it on my second visit. While Touhenboku’s ramen game might be strong, their karaage game was AWFUL! After ordering it for the second time the chicken karaage was brought to the table quite quickly, the “blonde” color to it immediately sent off warning bells in my head as it might be not fully cooked. When I picked up my first piece with my chopsticks I knew I was in for trouble; the chicken wasn’t crispy at all, and you could see it soaked up a lot of oil when frying. Biting in I was relieved to see it was cooked thoroughly and was juicy, but the lack of a crispy coating and oil absorption made it inedible for me so I sent it back to the kitchen thinking that would be the end of it. About ten minutes later someone from the kitchen came out with the chicken I sent back enquiring about why I didn’t like it, I explained my issues and was told “that’s how we cook it here and if we fry it too long to make the outside crispy we dry out the inside”, I shook my head in a WTF moment while at the same time I was asked if I was sure I didn’t want it!

On my first visit, I had the Black Garlicky Ramen with miso seasoning, fatty pork belly, and thin noodles. This bowl of ramen had sliced scallions, wood ear fungus, nori, their special garlic sauce, and an egg. The garlic sauce complimented the broth allowing it’s flavor and natural saltiness to come through. The broth had enough richness to it which gave it good body and mouthfeel. The egg yolk for me was overcooked and just on the verge of going mealy. I’m a fan of black garlic ramen, and this one was one of the better I’ve had so if you’re a fan I highly suggest it.

For my second visit, I had the Original White Ramen with soy seasoning added it (you have the option of adding soy or miso seasoning for $1.25 extra), fatty pork belly, and thin noodles. As you can see in the picture, the broth was indeed rich and silky with all that fat and my egg was a lot better than my first visit. The soup flavor wise was overpowered by the soy seasoning, and it took over the dish for me so next time I’m going to opt for just straight up chicken broth.

Besides the egg issue, Touhenboku was totally consistent with the cook on the pork belly and fresh noodles. The pork belly melts in your mouth, and the fat to meat ratio is spot on, the lean meat they have comes from the shoulder, but you can’t get a mix unless you order the meat lovers which comes with four pieces. Noodle-wise Touhenboku uses fresh noodles that are smooth, even with the silky smoothness they do an excellent job grabbing the broth.

So usually you don’t see desserts on the menu at ramen joints, but Touhenboku has three different options ranging from Japanese cheesecake, multi-layered crepe cake and chocolate cake. On my second I visit I saw on their Facebook page that desserts were available that day, but there was some confusion with the front of house staff, turns out they wouldn’t be fully ready till dinner, but I was able to snag a piece of the chocolate cake (the final plating has chocolate sauce and garnish). I’ve eaten a lot of chocolate cake in my life, and all I can say is that Touhenboku serves up a great piece of cake! The cake had an excellent depth of chocolate flavor, was moist, tender, and at first sight, it looked dense, but my fork went through like a hot knife through butter.

So apart from the chicken karaage issue and the dominant soy seasoning Touhenboku’s ramen game is good, the broth itself is tasty, delicious, and the noodles work for me. If you’re a fan of ramen, especially chicken ramen then Touhenboku should be on your list of noodle houses.

Continuing with the dim summing adventures the Chinese Bites crew and I hit up Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. Like our other dim sum adventure, the place was packed with diners eating and watching the soccer game on massive screens in the restaurant. This time around we all just ordered a bunch of items from the standard menu and not long after putting our order in the steamed dumplings and rice roll dishes hit the table with the others quickly following.

The Chinese donut and fish mousse filled versions of the Steamed Rice Rolls were both on point; the donut wasn’t too dense or dry, and the fish mousse was light and fluffy.

The other filled steamed rice rolls with shrimp mousse, and beef were both tasty as well. The shrimp mousse with the whole shrimp in it had great texture and snap while the beef version was softer.

Next up was one of my favorite items of the day, Baked BBQ Pork Pastry. These sesame seed topped beauties had beautiful buttery pastry, and the pork filling was moist and tender.

One item that I could have done without is the Deep Fried Squid. The pieces were generously cut, but I found the squid to be on the chewy side and the breading was meh.

A classic dim sum and all around general favorite of mine are the Shrimp Spring Rolls, and Sun Sui Wah’s didn’t disappoint. The wrapper was crisp without being greasy, and the shrimp filling wasn’t overcooked.

Something I thought I would love was the Deep Fried Glutinous Dumplings but unfortunately for myself, they were too greasy, and the dumpling “wrapper” was mushy just under the deep-fried exterior.

Moving on to more familiar dumplings, the Siu Mai was quickly devoured by everyone. The filling was alright but since the dumplings stuck together it was a bit of a pain to get them apart.

Another dim sum classic is the Har Gow shrimp dumplings. Sun Sui Wah’s were generously filled and on the large size which unfortunately led to them sticking together. The texture of the filling was good, and the dumpling wrapper wasn’t too thick.

The XLB’s were also on the large size and mine didn’t survive being lifted out of the steamer without ripping. The pork flavor was the star of the show for me since I missed out on the soup, it didn’t have a lot added to it filler wise.

The BBQ Pork Buns had a great filling to bun ratio, and the filling itself was moist with fattier pork used.

The Pan Fried Taro Pudding Cake was something I’ve never had and honestly I could do with never having it again. By the time I got to the pudding cake, it had sat for a bit so it got cold, texture wise it was dense and not very cake or pudding like!

Another winning dish for me was the Shrimp Mousse Stuffed Eggplant, Tofu, and Pepper but I only sampled the shrimp mousse portion of the trio as the pepper portion was not very cooked. The shrimp mousse itself was enjoyable with the majority of the savory and salty flavors coming from the preserved black bean sauce.

I nibbled on half of one of the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings which were wrapped in a crispy pastry that got everywhere when eating. The filling was mashed taro that was more enjoyable than the pudding cake texture wise and it was seasoned nicely.

The Steamed Beef Meatballs were freaking massive and bouncy but still tender, and the green onion flavor was throughout the meat.

The XO Daikon Pudding Cake had a good fry on it from the wok; the outside was indeed crispy with a hint of chili, and the inside was fluffy.

I hit my personal food wall when I got to the Steamed Black Bean Spareribs, but I did find room for a couple nibbles. The pieces were cut into bite sized pieces that I find impossible to hold with chopsticks and eat; the black bean flavor was balanced with the right amount of garlic allowing the flavor of the pork to come through still.

Also, we ordered a handful of other dishes that I didn’t partake in including Bean Curd Skin Roll, Lo Mei Gai, Bible Tripe, Chicken Feet, and Duck Feet.

I understand why the desserts hit the table first as they are already made but I still shake my head. Besides the Egg Tarts, some Creamy Egg Yolk Buns were also ordered. To be honest egg tarts aren’t my favorite because I’m a fan of a sweeter, less-eggy custard. The creamy yolk buns had a filling that reminded me of the thousand layer cake, but the runniness made them messy to eat but the soft fluffy bun soaked up the filling nicely.

I’ll say the ordering of 35 dishes kind of blew me away but overall Sun Sui Wah served up some solid dim sum, and I would recommend them if you’re looking for classic flavors and dishes. The place is busy, so I would recommend making a reservation for large groups and get there early, we arrived late in the day which made it hard to get consistent service which included plate clearing and stuff.

**Disclosure-as a Chinese Bites reviewer my food was paid for by Chinese Bites, my opinions and experience are completely my own and were not influenced by the restaurant or ChineseBites.com**

A couple of weeks ago it was time for a Chinese Bites get together and feast but to change things up, this time, it was all about Dim Sum. This dim sum feast was at the Richmond location of Kirin Seafood Restaurant and when we arrived at 2 pm the place was packed. When I found out we were going for dim sum I was very excited because it’s something I haven’t had in many years. Kirin is a go-to spot for diners with locations all throughout the Lower Mainland, and for awhile it was the only upscale dim sum place in town.

The dishes came out fast and furious, and before we knew it, the table was full of food. Let’s start with the classic Siu Mai or as they are on the menu Steamed Prawn and Sakura Farm Premium Pork Dumpling Topped with Flying Fish Roe. I’ve had these before at other restaurants, and those weren’t as good as Kirin’s. The dumpling had a good balance of pork to shrimp with the shitake adding subtle umami flavors, and the filling wasn’t mushy.

Next up is another dim sum staple, the Haw Gow or Steamed Prawn Dumplings. Again these were also on point with a dumpling skin that held together nicely and the shrimp filling had a great snap to it when taking a bite.

One of my favorite dishes of the day were the Pan Fried Pork Belly and Preserved Vegetable Buns. The bun had a crispy fry on the outside, and the dough inside was fluffy which did a great job soaking up the flavors of the filling. Using pork belly added a ton of richness, the meat was soft and tender, and the sauce had a touch of sweetness to it.

The rice roll plays a prominent role in the dim sum universe, and we had it used in three different dishes. First up is Deep Fried Minced Fish and Chinese Mushroom Bean Curd Roll in Steamed Rice Roll (that was a mouthful) which is one of Kirin’s specialty items. The star of the dish for me was the minced fish which had the texture of a mousse. With the lightness of the fish combined with the deep fried bean curd wrapper and soft rice roll this was delicious.

Next, we had the Steamed Green Onion and Chinese Donut Rice Roll Topped with Bread Crumb. This is the typical preparation of the previous dish. Personally, I’m still trying to find my love for the Chinese donut, the denseness of it coupled with the lack of sweetness have me accepting it for what it is, the Wonder Bread of North America. Dipped in the sweetened soy, it was enjoyable, but the specialty version was the item I kept going back for.

Typically I’ve seen this dish with filled with beef or shrimp mousse on friends Instagram feeds but instead we got the Steamed Pork Liver Rice Roll, which is the specialty version. Just to get this out of the way, I hate liver with a passion, so I didn’t partake; fellow diners confirmed it’s livery funk.

When the Steamed Pine Mushroom and Pork Dumplings Filled with Consommé, I was in awe of the size of them. The dumpling wrapper wasn’t too thick and held the generous amount of soup inside nicely. The pork and mushroom filling was a welcomed change-up from the meat XLB’s I’ve always eaten, and it wasn’t overcooked, the texture was just right.

Lastly, in the dumpling category, I also enjoyed the Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling Served with Consommé. The consommé for this dumpling was served on the side in a side bowl and honestly couldn’t understand how to pair the two, so I just ate the dumplings by themselves. The dumpling had a beautifully crispy deep fried wrapper, and I thought dipping it in that stock would kill it. The prawns were cut into bite sized pieces and provided texture from being cooked perfectly.

Another fried favorite of mine was the Deep Fried Tofu with Minced Pork. The tofu was still light enough inside, and the pork filling was moist coupled with the crispy outside made this a pleasure to devour.

The Steamed Tofu Puff Stuffed with Minced Fish and Dried Shrimp dish was something I got to after it sat for a bit, so the sauce was soaked into the puff and I didn’t mind at all. Inside the fluffy puffs, the fish to shrimp balance was spot on, and the shrimp added snappy texture. Flavor wise the sauce had good umami flavor and played well with the fish and seafood.

Another dim sum must are spareribs, Kirin’s specialty version is with Black Bean Sauce and served on steamed plain rice rolls. I had my fill of rice rolls, so I just stuck to the spareribs which were a mix of some meaty pieces but more pieces had more bone than meat and were cut up into bite sized pieces.

I can think back to the first time I had dim sum; way back when I was in Grade 7 a handful of us got a reward trip to Chinatown where we went to Ming’s on Pender Street. Instead of being excited I was petrified and thought we were going to eat fish eyes and a bunch of crazy shit so when I saw fluffy steamed buns filled with pork I was relieved, to say the least. We sampled Kirin’s specialty version, Steamed Abalone, and Chicken Buns. The filling in these pillowy buns was conflicting for me, the abalone was overshadowed by the chicken and could have been anything IMO. Honestly, at first I didn’t know they were filled with abalone and thought it was a chicken and mushroom mixture and since it’s an endangered species I stopped eating my bun after taking a bite and learning what it was.

For dessert, we skipped the egg tarts and had the Thousand Tier Cake which was layered with a sweetened preserved egg yolk filling. Usually, dessert at dim sum isn’t a great course, this cake on the other had was amazing! While it wasn’t a thousand tier’s it had just the right amount of sweetness and if it wasn’t mentioned at the table I would have had no clue it was egg yolk.

Overall, dim sum at Kirin Seafood was a delicious experience; the specialty dishes were hit and miss for me, but the standard items all were prepared well and I’ll be checking out the Downtown location to indulge my dim sum cravings in the very near future.

**Disclosure-as a Chinese Bites reviewer my food was paid for by Chinese Bites, my opinions and experience are completely my own and were not influenced by the restaurant or ChineseBites.com**

The American burger chain has made a run for the border; CaliBurger has opened another Canadian location this time in Vancouver. The fast casual burger chain that is known for its In-N-Out style sauced burgers and fries opened their doors in the heart of Downtown on Thurlow Street just off Robson last month, and people have been lining up literally out the door to get their burger on.

Initially, I was invited to the grand opening for a tasting, but I passed on it and teamed up with Sherman to do a tasting on our own time at a couple of weeks later. In the meantime, I passed by restaurant hoping to pop in for a quick burger but for the first week they were packed and the wait time for food was ridiculous with wait times of 40+ minutes for food but I lucked out the following week later in the evening. I ended up doing a few random visits when I knew the wait for food wouldn’t be long and I’ll just say that later in the afternoon and later in the evening worked the best for me. So with all that said this post is a compilation of those visits and experiences along with the final tasting that CaliBurger hosted us for. At CaliBurger each burger is made to order starting with the cooking of the patty and assembling of the burger so that’s why things take a few minutes. One thing that I can’t do is compare CaliBurger to In-N-Out since I’ve never visited the latter but hope to one day so I went into CaliBurger with an open mind.

Besides the usual soda options, CaliBurger also had hand spun milkshakes that you can add shots of booze or Stumptown Nitro Cold Brew Coffee too. I just stuck with the classic chocolate shake with no additions, it was creamy but not super thick. Also craft beer is available.

Let’s start with the initiate the burger fest with the Cali Double consisting of two 100% fresh all beef patties, melted American cheese, Cali sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and your choice of fresh or grilled onions. This is the go to burger on the CaliBurger menu and something I’ve ordered on all three of my visits. Taking my first bite, the flavors instantly reminded me of the classic cheeseburger at Jimmy’s Lunch at the PNE, an oozy gooey mess. The grilled onions with the meat and gooey cheese made the burger work for me. One thing that I could have done with is less of the Cali Sauce; it’s a less tangy version of Thousand Island dressing, and they put a ton on every burger which made this a seven napkin burger. After having this three different times I’ve found that if the bun or burgers get too cold, the burger doesn’t taste the same or is nearly as enjoyable and half Cali Sauce is the way to go. Price wise the double burger, Cali Fries and a drink came to $14, not fast food cheap but in line with other not frozen burger chains.

The other staple of a burger joint’s menu are the fries and CaliBurger does theirs fresh. The menu item which is more famous than the burgers IMO are the Cali Fries, which takes CaliBurger’s plain fries and tops them with sauteed onions, American cheese and a slathering of Cali Sauce. These were a part of all of my meals and let’s just say I prefer my fries without all the sauce and cheese; maybe some sauteed onions, but that’s it. I found the fries themselves great, but you might want to ask for extra crispy fries as they can get soggy because of the small size (bigger fries create space for the steam to escape when stacked in the container).

During our tasting, we had a couple of Cali Single burgers (one with bacon and one without) with sauteed onions, lettuce, and tomatoes. I found the burgers with the single pattie not as enjoyable as the doubles; the burger toppings overwhelm the meat from a texture perspective.

Moving away from the beef and onto the BBQ Chicken Sandwich. CaliBurger offers a regular version and one with chipotle BBQ sauce which adds a ton of flavor and is superior to the regular version. The chicken breast was moist, and I appreciated that it was grilled rather than crispy. The sauce had a hint of heat and added a ton of flavor to the sandwich. To round things out, the toppings were simply kept to tomatoes, bacon, and pickles.

Lastly, we had the Calibello Sandwich, which was created by the Seattle location for the Pacific Northwest market. The sandwich consists of a crispy panko breaded and fried portobello cap, lettuce, tomatoes, and something called Calinaise. I was very skeptical trying this, and I couldn’t have been more impressed with the vegetarian option they created. The portobello cap had texture to it still which gave that meaty mouthfeel and the crispy breading was indeed that. The Calinaise was like a mustard-laced version of the other sauce which added a brightness to the umami flavor of the mushroom.

Overall I enjoyed my Cali Double when the stars aligned, and the Calibello was another solid offering from CaliBurger, but I think I’ll skip the CaliSauce’d fries and such. If you’re looking for a burger change then CaliBurger is worth a try but comparing it to other places is redundant, there is always something better around the corner so why not just eat a burger and pop a smile??!!

**Disclosure-Some of my food and beverage was courtesy of CaliBurger and some I bought myself, all experiences and opinions are entirely my own.**